Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Crossed by Emily McIntire

22 reviews

han_olenik's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Blood, Classism, Abandonment, Sexual content, Misogyny, Ableism, and Sexual assault

nicolaj1994's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Rape, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Gore

kiwij96's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Do you ever just read something and think "why did I do that to myself?" This was that for me. I loved the author's previous books in this series, but this was honestly painful. The underlying plot was so much more promising than what the story was. I dully understand the concept behind this series, and the main characters being villains, so the story is supposed to be dark. But this was just horrifying.

The characters were 2D, the writing was often repetitive and clearly lacked proofreading with the amount of grammatical errors and repeated words, the way that Amaya's emotions were basically disregarded by everyone until the last 100 pages or so was honestly baffling to me even for a dark romance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, Bullying, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Rape, Murder, Self harm, and Stalking

ladyleia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, Sexual content, Torture, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Sexual harassment, Ableism, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Rape, Violence, Torture, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

corruptednatz's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Priests shouldn’t be hot (I repeat 5x over) but this one was!! The story was nitty gritty and depressing. I really felt the main character struggle. Taking care of her neurodivergent brother and her disabled best friend on a strippers salary is very realistic. Then Cade the hot murderous priest who became obsessed with the main character was the icing on the cake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Stalking, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Physical abuse, Abandonment, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Infidelity

Minor: Kidnapping, Gore, and Addiction

there is a rape scene between Amaya and her fiancé. Cade does seek revenge and it’s implied that when he had Parker pinned down he stuck the butter knife in a place where the sun doesn’t shine. Revenge for raping Amaya. My 2 warnings

vault_assassin_01's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Physical abuse, Bullying, Rape, Sexual content, Stalking, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

melissaslibraryy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Death, Grief, and Physical abuse

angelofthetardis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

After a couple of very similar settings, we get something a bit different with this twisted telling of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. The fanatical priest with a sordid secret meets the struggling exotic dancer trying to dig her way out of the mess her mother left behind... Will his faith in the Almighty sustain him, or fall to the temptation of sweet sin?

So yeah, first and foremost this probably ticks a few more trigger/content warning boxes than the previous books in the series. It certainly felt darker than some of the others, particularly since the juxtaposition of Cade's day job compared to his nighttime activities is so stark. Although you do jump into the action very quickly, it is a little unsettling simply because your expectations of the characters based on stereotypes are the reverse of the other books - you'd expect the MMC to be the 'innocent' one here. As a result, I found Cade's struggle between his faith and his desire very engaging as it kept this feeling going even after it became clear that the author was sticking with her usual formula. 

The story also felt more grounded than the others. For once, neither of the main protagonists were filthy rich and their lives generally were more relatable. They're certainly no more 'normal' than any of the others, but they had more depth to them. Introducing Quinten as the younger brother with developmental disabilities was a beautiful touch, and he gives the reader a character to truly root for. Weirdly, the story acts as a great social commentary on how hard it must be to have a child with special needs when you simply can't afford all of the extra necessities, and makes you think about just what those necessities are. It also means that you feel as Amaya and Cade do when he is forgotten, which is a great way into their wider mindsets. Plus, the extended epilogue to this one really rounds his story out nicely.

As with the last book though, the added darkness to Cade's character didn't seem strictly necessary. He could still have been the stormy priest struggling with his inner demons and just as dark a character without him getting his hands dirty. Again, I think the author knows what works for her and is blindly sticking with it, rather than exploring alternative ways to tell the story she wants to tell. And while the morally upright to morally grey arc for Amaya works well in the main story, I'm not sold on the ambiguous ending where it's intimated that perhaps she's followed Cade down the darker path. It just doesn't fit her character in my opinion.

The "adult" content in this one give the story much more of a slow burn to it. And actually, while it's still a big part of the story, it came across as more of a physical expression of feelings (or repression thereof) rather than just being there for the 18 rating.

These books are good, don't get me wrong, but having read all five in a very short space of time I can confidently say that was a mistake. These are standalone books that you slot in between other reads, or to get you out of your own head when you're distracted, not a series to be binge-read. I'll definitely be reading them again in future, but probably not for a little while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Ableism, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

emiliamaria76's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Stalking, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Body shaming, Bullying, Abandonment, Addiction, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

ka_ke's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It was better than Wretched but not as good as the OG Hooked. Crossed is especially dark and twisted but if you enjoy those themes then this is right up your alley. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Stalking, Violence, Abandonment, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Pedophilia

Minor: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment